An increase in foreign military sales is keeping members of the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space busy.

Rod Summers, deputy PEO for integration, mentioned the rising foreign military sales during his talk Thursday to the Huntsville Chapter of the National Contract Management Association. He discussed the office's activities and future.

"Future is bright from the standpoint of all the FMS cases we've got," Summers said. "We've got a couple of new development programs. We've got to keep an eye on our industrial base to make sure it stays healthy. But other than that, the future looks good."

Summers presented an overview of the office and its mission. "Summarily what we do is equip the war fighters," he said. "Our mission is to put equipment in the hands of the war fighters that's safe and effective."

He encouraged his mostly contracting audience to focus on equipping the war fighters with the best things they possibly can to defend themselves. "What we do every day is about the Soldier," he said.

About 50 people attended the chapter's monthly luncheon at the Holiday Inn Research Park, near Madison Square Mall.

Summers, 49, a Huntsville native, outlined some of today's challenges which include:

A-A A(R) Losing focus in a multi-tasked world. "A contract is the instrument to accomplish our mission of equipping the war fighter. ... We have got to focus on that (the contract)."

A-A A(R) Maintaining skills sets and building the bench. "Sixty-five percent of our employees are eligible to retire in the next 1-5 years. ... BRAC will open up many job advancement opportunities."

A-A A(R) Trying to continuously improve in the face of growing statutes and regulations. "Doing the taxpayers' business is hard. ... When spending a taxpayer's dollar we'd better be very careful how we do it. Very careful."